‘When a captain is out of form, it affects his captaincy’ - Pujara, Harbhajan open up on Rohit Sharma’s captaincy

India have lost four consecutive Test matches under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. They lost the New Zealand series 3-0 at home and later, in the second Test against Australia, India suffered a 10-wicket defeat. Rohit’s form is also a matter of concern. He has amassed 46 runs in the last three matches and is under tremendous pressure right now, especially as India’s World Test Championship final qualification is hanging in balance.

Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara meanwhile believes that Rohit’s form is directly related to his captaincy. He noted that the 37-year-old is undergoing a rough patch and for the same reason, he hasn’t been at his best in terms of captaincy. Pujara mentioned that Rohit needs to have a good start and capitalize on that and convert it into a big total, which will give him the confidence that might be missing at the moment.

“I would like Rohit Sharma to come back to form as soon as possible. Because when he scores runs, it will affect his captaincy as well. When a captain is out of form, it affects his captaincy as well. So, I think when scores runs, it will affect his captaincy. Rohit Sharma is an experienced player. He knows how to score runs when batting,” Pujara said while talking to Star Sports.

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“He is going through some bad form. But even there, a start is very important for him. He should focus on getting his first 20 or 30 runs steadily. After that, he can capitalize on the start and convert it into a big score. So, hopefully, when he comes in the first half or quarter of an hour, he should focus on getting a start,” he added.

When Rohit scores runs, he will think better and do better things: Harbhajan Singh

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh echoed the same sentiment, stating that Rohit needs to score runs and when he does, he will do better as captain as well. The off-spinner added that the India captain is worried about his performance and that might affect his leadership skills. 

“As a captain, I would like Rohit Sharma to make runs. When he scores runs, he will think better and do better things. No matter how big a player is, he is always worried about his performance. There is no doubt that when a player scores runs, he makes a better decision. So, let's hope that Rohit Sharma scores some runs so that his captaincy gets better,” Harbhajan said.